ILOILO City – Ready to get wet?
It’s the feast of San Juan de Bautista (St. John the Baptist) today. In the Philippines, the feast is traditionally celebrated by Christians by freely dousing one another with water to simulate the act of baptism during the time of Christ – all in the spirit of fun.
Others troop to the beach, thus the Philippine Coast Coast Guard (PCG) in Western Visayas are on their toes today to monitor the situation in coastal areas.
According to Coast Guard Ensign Fresha Prill Daitao, public information officer of PCG Region 6, all coastguard stations in the region have been instructed to conduct baywatch and seaborne patrol.
“We also coordinate with Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils,” added Daitao.
In Iloilo City, nine coastguard personnel will be conducting baywatch patrol along Fort San Pedro, Lapuz Wharf and Muelle Loney Wharf.
In Capiz, the PCG deputy station commander for operation there, Chief Petty Officer Arnel Nisola, said their personnel are ready in their respective substations such as in Banica, Olotayan and Libas in Roxas City as well as in the coastal towns of Ivisan and Pilar.
With the augmentation of coastguard auxiliaries and other government responders, Nisola said they will deploy teams that will focus on monitoring coastal areas, especially those with many beachgoers.
On the other hand, as part of the tradition, water splashing can be expected anywhere, especially in areas where annual fiesta or festival is being celebrated in honor of San Juan de Buenavista.
In Sara, Iloilo, people will celebrate their annual Sulay-Basya Festival 2022 as one of the highlights of their town fiesta.
Merrymaking and splashing of water is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in town’s public plaza after the mass that will be held in the morning.
The local government unit of Sara encourages everyone to use clean water when splashing on someone.
People are also advised to prepared and make sure their valuables don’t get wet like cellphone and wallets.
In Iloilo City, Barangay San Juan in Molo district is also celebrating its annual fiesta today./PN
